Jakle: From politics to KABB traffic reporter

New KABB traffic reporter Jessica Headley served as a political appointee in the George W. Bush White House.

New KABB traffic reporter Jessica Headley served as a political appointee in the George W. Bush White House.

Photo: Dana Patrick, Courtesy

Photo: Dana Patrick, Courtesy

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New KABB traffic reporter Jessica Headley served as a political appointee in the George W. Bush White House.

New KABB traffic reporter Jessica Headley served as a political appointee in the George W. Bush White House.

Photo: Dana Patrick, Courtesy

Jakle: From politics to KABB traffic reporter

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San Antonio's Fox station has hired a new morning traffic reporter with a background so different from the norm that I was instantly intrigued.

Jessica Headley, 27, replaces Miriam Zamorano on KABB's "Fox News First" from 5 to 9 a.m. Zamorano had left some months ago to relocate with her husband to Florida; she recently gave birth to a baby girl.

Like Shelly Miles on WOAI and Natalie Tejeda on KENS, newcomer Headley, who started on-air last week, is pretty and vivacious and has a real way with a road map. However, what sets her apart are the detours she took on her own life map before arriving at her present destination.

"The long and winding road!" is how she described it during our phone chat.

Sure, like her TV contemporaries, Headley chalked up experience reporting and anchoring, most recently at KUSI-TV in San Diego, Calif.

She also interned with Fox News in New York and Los Angeles, covering everything from politics to news to red-carpet arrivals for awards shows.

Prior to that, however, Headley was heavy into politics. After college in 2007, she spent time at the White House as a political appointee under President George W. Bush. For 1½ years, she said, she presided over international and domestic volunteer missions and handled projects with the Peace Corps, celebrity philanthropies and the American Red Cross.

What led to such a big opportunity?

"At 18, I founded a non-profit called PRAISE Inc. - which was all about encouraging kids to make good decisions," Headley said. "With it, I became one of two women to push the first character education funding into the Alabama state budget."

Other notable entries on her résumé? She penned a couple of thought-provoking political pieces for the Huffington Post, was a runner-up three times for Miss Alabama and is a practiced singer and dancer.

What drew the Birmingham, Ala., native and youngest of seven children to TV traffic reporting?

"My father had an excellent sense of direction," Headley said. "I've always had a real taste for adventure … and a car always got me there."

However, it was the "whole package" of the job at KABB in San Antonio that appealed to her, she said.

"It's sunny here with good people," she said, "and the morning team I'm working with has such positive energy."

As someone who always has been good at "juggling lots of different things," she also appreciated that the KABB bosses "like their people to do multiple duties" and looks forward to doing some news reporting and anchoring down the line.

For now, she's focused on mastering traffic.

"They put me through what they call traffic-anchor boot camp," she said, explaining: "I had to study, study, study and learn these roads like the back of my hand."

TV tidbits

While I have you here, how about a couple of more thoughts of the TV kind?

I finally checked out that new show on the misnamed Learning Channel, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," about a self-described redneck family. A spinoff of "Toddlers & Tiaras," each half-hour follows the daily antics of 6-year-old Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson and her relatives in rural Georgia. It's pretty trashy stuff, but what made my mouth drop open is the show's use of subtitles so viewers can understand what these people are saying.

Is there a cushier job than that of Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb during the midday hour of NBC's "Today"? They're always dressed in some silliness and chattering away about whatever strikes their fancy as they sip from whatever cocktail glass is handy. The other day, they were whooping it up in a conga line from the Bahamas. Please, Lord, if I die and go to heaven, can I spend my days with these two?